Southern Metropolis Weekly, a new magazine put out by the Southern Media Group (as should be obvious from both the title and the typeface on the masthead), is running a series of "historical covers" as advertisements for the launch.

Here is the cover of the "Qin Dynasty Life" issue. The big draw on the cover runs: "72 hours buried alive: returning from the book burning and burying of Confucians, a survivor tells his story." Another teaser asks "Calling black white: is it really incorrect?"

In a second edition, an entertainment supplement from the Zhou dynasty, the magazine accuses famous beauty Xi Shi and her "manager" Fan Li of conspiring to spread scandal rumors in order to increase her value as a celebrity.

They're little bits of sly commentary on contemporary topics couched in the events of ancient dynasties. Tax-reform, international trade, boy bands & girl groups, and the of "drama in real life" sorts of stories that sell magazines today apparently were quite successful centuries ago as well.

Here are two more covers, along with translations of the cover copy.

Southern Metropolis Weekly: Ming Dynasty Life
"Life is attitude"

- Zhu Youjian's final three days in the Forbidden City
- Was spending so much money to sail the western seas worth it?

- "One-whip rule" and reasonable tax evasion
- A rational look at anti-piracy measures on the coast
- The body writing of Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng
- Liu Jin: How a transsexual made his dirty money